Hot Chocolate Cookies

Oh I thought I was so clever… The plan was to bake a winning batch of cookies AND use up the excess jellybeans that the Easter Bunny left around here.

They looked so pretty. The dough tasted so yummy. The cookies were so bad!… How could something wielding so much potential, turn out so disgusting?… Ignoring, for a moment, the horrible texture that the candies lent to the cookies, they also produced a dreadful flavour combination. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been as bad, had I used those plain fruity flavoured jellybeans, but I had the gourmet mix. Take my word for it, mango, popcorn, and licorice don’t blend.

But luck was looking out for me…

At first it didn’t seem like luck. Quite the opposite… I wasn’t paying full attention when I started the dreadful jellybean batch, and (I don’t know how) ended up doubling the amount of shortening. Of course I didn’t realize this until after I had added the sugar, and was wondering why it looked so wrong. From there, the only course of action was to double up all the other ingredients too… As I blended, I wondered what I would do with the other half of the dough. Chocolate kept coming to mind, and with a few additions Hot Chocolate Cookies were born.

Preferably you will have marshmallow extract for the frosting, to complete the theme, but if you don’t, just use vanilla. However, if you are interesting in buying some, look for it in cake supplies stores or shop for it online (I order mine from Vanilla Food Company).

And so the lesson here is: When things seem to be going wrong in the kitchen, stay calm, take a step back, and just breathe. Some mistakes result in pretty sweet endings.

Beat the shortening and margarine together until smooth and thoroughly blended. Add sugar and extracts, and beat until light and fluffy. Add yogurt and milk and beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

Using a teaspoon to measure, scoop dough, roll into a ball, coat in hot chocolate mix, and place ball on a prepared cookie sheet. Repeat, placing balls 2 inches apart. Flatten balls to 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

When completely cool, pipe or spread frosting (recipe follows) on the flat side of a cookie, then lightly sandwich with a second cookie on top.

Makes approximately 30 assembled cookies.

Marshmallow Frosting

3 tbsp Shortening

1 tbsp Margarine

1 cup Icing Sugar

1 tsp Marshmallow Extract

1/2 tsp Non-Dairy Milk

Beat together the shortening and margarine until smooth and thoroughly combined. Add sugar and extract, and beat until light and fluffy. Add milk and beat for another 3 – 4 minutes.

This recipe makes just enough frosting to fill the 30 cookies. If you plan to spread your frosting more generously than I did, you may want to increase the recipe by 1/2.